Latest news on ethics and sustainability in fashion
A cross-party group of more than 100 MPs and peers, including APPG for Ethics & Sustainability in Fashion Co-chair Baroness Lola Young of Hornsey and Officer Dr Lisa Cameron MP, have signed a joint letter to the CEOs of fast fashion giants to demand living wages for the garment workers in their supply chains.
The Guardian have published concerting accounts that women at a H&M supplier in India have faced widespread sexual violence and abuse. The allegations have come just weeks after the body of a 21-year-old Dalit garment workers was found in a field close to her family home after she failed to return from her shift at the Natchi Apparels factory.
The victim’s supervisor at the factory has been charged with murder and her family have claimed that she was too afraid to report harassment she faced in the weeks before she died. Since the killing, 25 women have made allegations to the Tamil Nadu Textile and Common Labour Union of sexual assault, harassment and verbal abuse by male supervisors and managers.
Workers at the factory make clothes for H&M and other brands - and H&M have launched an independent investigation into conditions and claims of sexual assault in their supply chain.
The US authorities have launched an investigation into the allegations of worker exploitation and forced labour in Boohoo’s UK supply chain. The Customs and Border Protection body is said to have found grounds for the investigation following a concerted media campaign by Liberty Shared, who sent a petition on 1 February outlining the issues which are to the fore last summer in Leicester. Boohoo have recently appointed Sir Brian Leveson, who led the phone-hacking inquiry, to oversee the overhaul of its supply chain.
The Environmental Audit Committee has asked Boohoo Group Chairman Mahmud Kamani to link its bonus scheme for senior executive to the achievement of its pledges on workers’ rights and environmental sustainability.
Monitoring: In Parliament
The latest parliamentary monitoring from the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Ethics & Sustainability in Fashion, including written and oral contributions by MPs and Peers.
